Trawrynd History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Scotland

The notable Trawrynd family arose among the Cornish People, a race with a rich Celtic heritage and an indomitable fighting spirit who inhabited the southwest of England. While surnames were well-known during the English medieval period, Cornish People originally used only a single name. The way in which hereditary surnames came into common use is interesting. As the population of medieval Europe multiplied, people began to assume an extra name to avoid confusion and to further identify themselves. Under the Feudal System of government, surnames evolved and they often reflected life on the manor and in the field. Patronymic surnames were derived from given names and were the predominant type of surname among the Celtic peoples of Britain. However, the people of Cornwall provide a surprising exception to this rule, and patronymic surnames are less common among them than other people of Celtic stock, such as their Welsh neighbors. This is due to the greater influence of English bureaucracy and naming practices in Cornwall at the time that surnames first arose. This type of surname blended perfectly with the prevailing Feudal System. One feature that is occasionally found in Cornish surnames of this type is the suffix -oe or -ow; this is derived from the Cornish plural suffix -ow. is a patronymic surname that came from the ancient Cornish given name Urion or Urien, meaning town born. 1

Early Origins of the Trawrynd family

The surname Trawrynd was first found in Cornwall, where they held a family seat from very ancient times at Trewarevra, and were descended from Driff in Cornwall. The original name was Trewren and Uren is an abbreviation thereof.

Urien (Urien Rheged or Uriens) was a late 6th-century king of Rheged, an early British kingdom in northern England and southern Scotland. According to Arthurian legend, he became the "King Urien of Gorre" and his son Owain mab Urien was later known as Ywain. Known for his victories at the battle of Gwen Ystrad and Alt Clut Ford, the Brythonic poet Taliesin later celebrated his life in poems. 2

In Staffordshire, we found an early entry as a forename: Urian de St. Pierrs in the Assize Rolls of 1272. In Yorkshire, William Urine was listed in the Subsidy Rolls for 1301 and in Gloucestershire, Robert Vryen was listed in 1459. 3

The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 included: John filius Urian, Huntingdonshire; and Uryene (without surname), Cambridgeshire. 4

Early History of the Trawrynd family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Trawrynd research. Another 108 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1633, 1635, 1671, 1675, 1680, 1696, 1724, 1726 and 1731 are included under the topic Early Trawrynd History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Trawrynd Spelling Variations

Cornish surnames are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. The frequent changes in surnames are due to the fact that the Old and Middle English languages lacked definite spelling rules. The official court languages, which were Latin and French, were also influential on the spelling of a surname. Since the spelling of surnames was rarely consistent in medieval times, and scribes and church officials recorded names as they sounded rather than adhering to any specific spelling rules, it was common to find the same individual referred to with different spellings of their surname in the ancient chronicles. Moreover, a large number of foreign names were brought into England, which accelerated and accentuated the alterations to the spelling of various surnames. Lastly, spelling variations often resulted from the linguistic differences between the people of Cornwall and the rest of England. The Cornish spoke a unique Brythonic Celtic language which was first recorded in written documents during the 10th century. However, they became increasingly Anglicized, and Cornish became extinct as a spoken language in 1777, although it has been revived by Cornish patriots in the modern era. The name has been spelled Uren, Trewren, Hurin, Hurrion and others.

Early Notables of the Trawrynd family

Notable amongst the family at this time was Thomas Trewren of Sancreed, last of an ancient line who held the manor house at Monkton. John Hurrion (1675?-1731), was an independent divine, descended from a Suffolk family and was trained for the ministry among the independents. About 1696 he succeeded William Bedbank at Denton in Norfolk. There he engaged in a controversy respecting the divinity of Christ with William Manning, the Socinian minister of Peasenhall, Suffolk. He removed...
Another 76 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Trawrynd Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Trawrynd family

A look at the immigration and passenger lists has shown a number of people bearing the name Trawrynd: William Uren settled in Philadelphia in 1856.

Citations +

Charnock, Richard, Stephen, Ludus Patronymicus of The Etymology of Curious Surnames. London: Trubner & Co., 60 Paternoster Row, 1868. Print.
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)